A continually increasing trend facing service providers of voice and data communication networks is ability to provide services to consumers in locations that are not, or can not, be served by conventional land line (e.g., wire, coaxial, fiber, etc.) infrastructures. As the number and types of services available over such networks increases, consumer demand for access to such services also increases. Consumers utilize devices such as mobile phones, tablets, computers, etc. to obtain various types of content which can often require greater bandwidth and a higher quality of service than only a short period of time prior. Satellite communication networks have greatly increased access to consumers located in remote and/or non-conventional locations (e.g., rural, aero, marine, etc.).
Satellite communication networks typically operate at the network level (i.e., layer-3) of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. The network layer (or layer-3) implements a suite of protocols that allow packets to be routed from a source to a destination. Some of the layer-3 functions include routing, congestion control, accounting, and packet assembly/disassembly. While satellite communication networks are becoming more widely available, the costs associated with transmission/reception to/from the satellite can be higher than networks operating on land lines.
Carrier grade Ethernet, or carrier Ethernet, has emerged as a ubiquitous, standardized service that can be delivered not only over traditional (native) Ethernet-based networks but can also be delivered over the data link layer (or layer-2) of the OSI reference model. Thus, carrier Ethernet can often be used in place of existing transport technologies such as frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). E-line is a standardized service defined by the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) for establishing a point-to-point Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC) to deliver carrier Ethernet between two network interfaces.
This unified approach can cost effectively extend the benefits of Ethernet to help both service providers and end users of carrier Ethernet services achieve substantial savings. Carrier Ethernet also offers a wide range of granular bandwidth and quality of service (QoS) options. While carrier Ethernet is capable of providing numerous benefits to terrestrial networks, further benefits can be achieved when combined with satellite transport. Such benefits can be achieved, for example, by layer 3 networking applications/configurations that make use of layer 3 Internet or intranet access when carried terrestrially, as well as layer 2 applications that make use of layer 2 network access when carried terrestrially. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an approach which facilitates transport of both layer 3 and layer 2 applications over the same satellite layer 3 network, while advantageously using the integral network QoS and efficient bandwidth capabilities of the satellite network for both types of traffic.